Padres majority owner John Moores has reached a settlement with Jeff Moorad’s investment group that ensures his continuing control of the franchise and clears a potential hurdle in securing approval of the team’s lucrative television deal with Fox Sports.

Two sources familiar with the deal said Major League Baseball has signed off on the structure of the Fox Sports contract and that formal approval could be announced as soon as next week.

The long-term future of Padres’ ownership remains unclear. Moores told MLB.com Thursday that he was still inclined to sell the team -- “Not definitely, but I think so” -- but the agreement negotiated with Moorad’s partnership eliminates that group’s option to buy Moores’ remaining interest and effectively streamlines the club to be re-sold.

“I have absolutely no idea how long it's going to take to make that decision (on selling),” Moores told MLB.com. “It's safe to say that it's open-ended now; that I'm going to own the team for the foreseeable future. But that's not to say that my reign isn't going to end tomorrow. We've already talked to some bankers. I'll take some time to figure this all out."

Under terms of the deal agreed to in 2009, Moorad's group had until 2014 to close the purchase. But Moorad’s inability to gain approval as the club’s “control person” contributed to the delay in approval of the Fox deal.

Baseball was reluctant to green-light a front-loaded rights package for an ownership still in flux, and expressed concerns that a signing bonus that has been estimated as high as $200 million might be diverted into the pockets of Moorad’s partners rather than reinvested in the ballclub.

Moorad resigned as the Padres’ chief executive officer March 22, and has been replaced as the point man for his investment group by Ron Fowler, a San Diego businessman. Fowler has declined numerous interview requests.

The Fox deal could be worth up to $1.2 billion to the Padres -- an average of $50 million a year in rights fees in addition to the signing bonus. The Padres also receive a 20 percent equity stake in Fox Sports San Diego, the new TV home of the club.

FSSD is available on Cox Cable (channels 56/1056) and DirecTV (694). Fox Sports does not have agreements with Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-Verse or Dish Network.